Notes on the Tenure and Distribution of Landed Property in Burmah

STOP

Early Journal Content on JSTOR, Free to Anyone in the World

This article is one of nearly 500,000 scholarly works digitized and made freely available to everyone in
the world by JSTOR.

Known as the Early Journal Content, this set of works include research articles, news, letters, and other
writings published in more than 200 of the oldest leading academic journals. The works date from the
mid-seventeenth to the early twentieth centuries.

We encourage people to read and share the Early Journal Content openly and to tell others that this
resource exists. People may post this content online or redistribute in any way for non-commercial
purposes.

Read more about Early Journal Content at http://about.jstor.org/participate-jstor/individuals/early-
journal-content .

JSTOR is a digital library of academic journals, books, and primary source objects. JSTOR helps people
discover, use, and build upon a wide range of content through a powerful research and teaching
platform, and preserves this content for future generations. JSTOR is part of ITHAKA, a not-for-profit
organization that also includes Ithaka S+R and Portico. For more information about JSTOR, please
contact support@jstor.org.

227

XIX. — Notes on the Tenure and Distribution of Landed Pro-
perty in Burmah. Contributed by Colonel Phayre, Chief
Commissioner of British. Burmah.

{Read June 25th, 1867.]

Whatever may originally have been the relative rights of
kings and people to the soil in other countries, in Burmah the
ancient book of the Dhama-that, or laws of Menu, represents
the people as conferring a share of the produce on their elected
king : the right of the king of Burmah, therefore, to a portion
of the produce of the land, rests on a very different foundation
to that of the ancient kings of Egypt. In the former case it
is distinctly laid down as springing from the free gifts of the
people : in the latter the right was reserved to himself by the
king, when he settled cultivators on the land as mere tenants.
The record in the first book of the Buddhist Menu on this
subject is as follows : " The original inhabitants of the world
assembled and took council together, that as bad practices
had become common, they should give command to a worthy
man of good principles and raise him to be king, so that he
should rebuke those who ought to be rebuked, banish those
who should be banished, they giving him one tenth of their
thalay rice in return."

In a subsequent book, the sixth of the same code of law,
the right to a share of the produce of the soil and no more, is
carefully insisted upon in the following words : " But the king,
who is master, must abide by the ten laws for the guidance of
kings ; and although property which has an owner is called the
property of the king, yet he has no right to take all. Rice
fields, plantations, tanks, canals, whatever is made or produced
by man, and customs and ferry duties also, he has a right to.
Through successive worlds the first great king, Maha Thamada,
has established one tenth as an everlasting precedent, and let
that be observed for ever."

This udal or allodial right as regards private owners of
land, does not, however, appear to have been strictly observed
by the Burmese kings beyond the limits of their ancient king-
dom. The right of private ownership appears to have been
admitted as obligatory only in respect to the Burmese race.
It was not always respected in Pegu, the country of a con-
quered people speaking a different language.

At the present time in Burmah generally, we find property

q2

228 Col. Phayee — Landed Property in Burmah.

in land distributed in comparatively small estates. In British
Burmah the average size of these estates is estimated to be
about fifteen acres ; while the average size of farms, cultivated
to raise the staple product of the country, that is rice, is some-
thing less than eight acres.

The landed estates appear to have been occupied allodially
from the earliest times, but subject to the payment of one
tenth of the produce in kind to the king. The succession to
land is according to the ordinary law of heritage. But it con-
stantly happens that a family estate remains undivided for
several generations, different portions of it being held, and
tilled in succession, by various members of the family, without
the shares being apportioned among the several co-heirs. It is
probable that this practice could not have grown into a general
custom as at present, if the population had been denser than
it is. But with a vast extent of culturable land unoccupied,
and a sparse population, people are not pressed for subsistence,
and readily move about to seek a livelihood. There is plenty
of new land to be had without reducing the area of the family
estate. The division of it is generally postponed until some
extraordinary occasion impels one member of the family to
demand his share, which frequently leads to a general distri-
bution. As a general rule it is considered in Burmah that
land cannot be alienated from the family it belongs to. There
appears to be almost a religious objection to parting finally
with land. Sometimes, indeed, land is mortgaged with the
understanding that it is not meant to be redeemed, and yet
redemption is subsequently claimed by the descendants of the
original mortgager. But in the various books of the code of
Menu, which doubtless have been written at widely different
periods of time, the law regarding rights to land is not always
consistent. A curious family record exists of a transaction
regarding a small estate in the district of Prome, township of
Meaday. The land, after having been mortgaged apparently
with the view of being finally parted with, was redeemed in the
year 1843, a.d., by a descendant of the original mortgager. A
translation of the record of this transaction is given at the end
of this paper. The joint mortgagee, though stating that re-
demption was not originally contemplated, does not appear to
have resisted the claim to redeem, made by the descendants of
the original mortgager. Rent for the use of land, payable to
a private proprietor, is comparatively rai*e in Burmah. It is
only known in some townships beyond the delta of the Irra-
waddy, and in a few portions of Arakan and Tenasserim, where
grain-producing land is scarce, and where population is more
plentiful than is ordinarily the case. It is usually paid in
kind and seldom exceeds one tenth of the gross produce.

Col. Phayre — Landed Property in Bv/rmah. 229

The distribution of landed property in Burmah being as
has been described, it would be altogether useless now to con-
sider whether this arrangement might advantageously be
altered; whether, in fact, as some have not hesitated to re-
commend, the rights of peasant proprietors should be swal-
lowed up by capitalists, or large proprietors. Such a plan of
spoliation is not likely at the present day to receive a favour-
able hearing.

We have, thus, briefly considered the state of distribution
of landed property in Burmah ; the foundation on which the
right to that property rests, and the beneficial effect of similar
distribution in other countries, whether in America, in Europe,
or in Asia, testify to its advantages.

What is the moral to be drawn from this state of landed
property as regards British Burmah ? What ought we to do
therein ? The reply is evident. Maintain the right of the
peasant proprietor to his land as an allodial possession ; dis-
miss from your minds all fancied exclusive proprietory rights
of government to land already occupied; remember that the
only government right in land is a right to a share of the pro-
duce, and the right to adopt such measures as are necessary to
secure that share. Such right must, for the joint benefit of
government and the owner, be so exercised, as to leave a
clearly profitable estate to the owner. By thus acting, justice
will be maintained, the well being of the people will be pre-
served, and the political as well as the moral benefits to the
whole community, if there be any truth in history, will be
lasting. We should bear in mind the words of the wise
Bacon, in his essay of the true greatness of kingdoms.

Family Record of Redemption of Paddy Land, situated in the
Township of Meaday, which had formerly been Mortgaged,

Men-theinga Nauyata-kyau, a petty magistrate of the dis-
trict of Meaday, states thus, " Having received instructions
from my relative, named Nga Twai, an heir, and inhabitant of
the village of Kyoukoo, to redeem a piece of rice land pro-
ducing about five hundred baskets, called Tsaba Hlau, and
situated in the village of Kyoukoo, which was mortgaged by
Nga Gan, the elder Nga Yawi's grandfather, Nga Twon, to
the father of the Anouk Wen Mhoo Maha Men Hten (named),
Men Tseen Thoo Kyau Hten, for one viss of silver,* and accord-
ing to his charge (to me saying), 'Please to redeem (it)/"
Men-theinga Nauyata-kyau applied to Mah Tsa, the wife of the
mortgagee, Wen-mhoo Men Gyee Maha-men-hten, for the re-

* A viss weighs 3'05 lbs.

230 Col. Phaybe — Landed Property in Burmah.

demption of the land by repayment of the original sum of
money for which it was mortgaged. Mah Tsa replied, " The
rice land aforesaid was not a redeemable mortgage, but an
outright gale, without (equity of) redemption." If it should
be urged (publicly) that it is customary to repay twofold as the
full value and so redeem, then expense will be incurred ; both
parties, therefore, agreed to dispense with prolonged discus-
sion (or legal proceedings), and as it is stated that the original
money bond of mortgage or sale has been destroyed by fire,
therefore Men-theinga Nauyata-kyau, according to the direc-
tion of Nga Twai, redeemed the paddy land called Tsaba Hlau,
producing five hundred baskets, from Mah Tsa, for one hun-
dred and twenty-five tikals* of nheet-mat-kai silver. It was
agreed that thereafter it should not be claimed, that any
balance remained due on the bond, or that the mortgagee had
any rent or (owner's) claim due on the paddy land aforesaid ;
and then on the second day of the waning moon, Ta-houng,
1205,f at the time of the redemption of the mortgage by
bond, the bond (of redemption) was drawn up by Men Shwe
Doung Thee-ree-nau-ya-hta. The silver was weighed and
computed with the knowledge of the Toung Queng, Myo-thoo-
gyee, Nau-ya-hta Kyau-hten.

The instructions given to Men-theinga Nauyata-kyau were,
that should he be able to redeem the land from the Wen-
mhoo-men, who resides beneath the golden feet, he was to
borrow the money required for the purpose and pay interest on
the same. He accordingly, on the value of the land, or one
hundred and twenty-five tikals of nheet-mat-kai silver, J bor-
rowed in a silver viss of twenty tikals§ alloy, and paying more
in weight (on that account). Bight tikals of nheet-mat-kai
silver were counted as ten tikals of twenty tikals in the viss
alloy silver, and so for nheet-mat-kai silver one hundred and
twenty-five tikals (had to borrow and pay) of twenty-five
tikals alloy silver|| (in weight), one hundred and sixty-two
tikals five moos. The interest for three months on the hun-
dred and twenty-five tikals of five per cent, silver, was eighteen
tikals three mats ; ten tikels were distributed to the company,

* Silver with 5 per cent, of alloy, 125 tickals lj viss. The Burmese
have no coinage, and in all transactions the precious metals have to be
weighed and assayed.

t a.d. 1843. The Burmese have four different eras, three of which have
been taken from the Hindus. The fourth, which is that here given, is of
native origin, and the one in common use : its commencement corresponds
with the year of Christ 639.

% That is, 5 per cent, of alloy. § That is, 20 per cent, of alloy.

|| One-fourth alloy.

Col. Phayeb — Landed Property in Burmah. 231

who were present at the discussion regarding the redemption
of the paddy land in question, by Men-theinga Nauyata-kyau ;
on account of the obligation conferred by him were given ten
tikals, and to the assembly who came to see the borrowed
money, repaid two tikals five moos. Sum total in twenty-five
tikals alloy* silver, the weight of two viss, one tikal two moos
and one bai (was paid) .

NOTE BY THE PBESIDENT.

The tenure of land in early times, or in a rude state of
society at the present time which is the same thing, comes
obviously within the legitimate province of ethnology, and,
therefore, a paper on the subject of the tenure and distribution
of land in Burmah by so learned and experienced a contributor
as Sir Arthur Phayre, justly finds a place in our Transactions,
and in order to make the subject more clear, the present ex-
planatory note is added.

The Burmese belong to a totally different race of man from
the Hindus to the west, and from the Chinese to the east of
them, being greatly below both in the scale of civilisation.
When private property in the land is referred to by a people
in the social condition of the Burmese, it is always confined to
such land as has undergone the necessary preparation for cul-
ture, the culture consisting chiefly of the main cereal, which is
rice. This indispensable preparation implies the clearing of
the land from forest, the grubbing up of the roots of trees,
the construction of dikes, trenches, and sluices for irrigation,
with a favourable locality for carrying all these objects into
effect.

In Burmah the population is small compared to the extent
of the land which it occupies. British Burmah, for example, has
an area of 90,000 square miles, with a population of no more
than 2,200,000, which is short of twenty-five inhabitants to a
square mile, while India has at least eight-fold this density,
and China at least ten-fold. The official returns make the
land brought to a cultivated condition, as now described, to
amount to no more than 1,500,000 acres, or 2,343 square miles
out of 90,000. The rest of the country consists of unirrigated
unprepared land for dry land culture, without saleable value, —
of forests, deserts, and water.

In Burmah, then, the land is superabundant, and when it
has an exchangeable value, that value consists, not of the
soil, but of the labour, skill, and capital which have been in-
vested in its improvement. In the technical sense signifying

* One-fourth alloy.

232 Col. Phayke — Landed Property in Burmah.

the difference in productive power between one kind of land
and another, rent has no existence, for the best land is still
abundant and awaits only the investment of capital.

The present condition of Burmah as to the relation between
population and land is not that of an old Asiatic country but
of an European colony, as in the examples of temperate Ame-
rica North and South, — of Australia, and of New Zealand.
The fairness of this comparison is corroborated when it is
stated that by the public returns the export of the staple pro-
duct of British Burmah, that is, of rice, amounted to 454,000
tons, after leaving an ample allowance for the universal bread
of its own inhabitants.

With respect to the Burmese theory of the first distribution
of land between cultivator and sovereign, it is obviously of
Hindu origin, as we find by the references made to the Insti-
tutes of the Hindu legislator, Menu. It is equally plain that
it is also both factitious and mythological. In the primitive
condition in which land was first cultivated, there was no one
who had the inclination to give or who had the power to
exact, nor are the first rude cultivators of the soil likely to
agree among themselves in any thing, and above all to agree
to tax themselves. In the progress of society, one man by
talents, fortune, and even the necessity for a ruler, attained a
superiority over the little community of which he was a mem-
ber, and naturally proceeded to exact a revenue from the only
object that could yield it, the produce of the soil, and he fixed
its amount at a tithe of the gross produce, probably for no
better reason than that the numeral ten was at the time the
limit of the numerals of his language.